give somebody/get the cold shoulder

give somebody/get the cold ˈshoulder

treat somebody/be treated in a deliberately unfriendly way: I try to chat to my colleagues during the lunch hour, but for some reason they’ve been giving me the cold shoulder. OPPOSITE: with open armsOne theory about the origin of this expression is that it refers to meat. Meat cut from the shoulder of an adult sheep was very cheap, so giving visitors this meat served cold was a sign that they were not welcome.

See also: cold, get, give, shoulder, somebody